In the middle of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt lies the famous monastery of St Katharine. It is the oldest monastery in continuous existence, and was founded by the emperor Justinian in the sixth century AD. It was built in the desert on the site of the Burning Bush, where God appeared to Moses. The monastery holds a collection of manuscripts in its library that is second only to the Vatican. And it is in this monastery that the bones of our patron, St Katharine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr, are enshrined.

Katharine is believed to have been the daughter of a fourth-century Roman Governor of Egypt, and became a Christian as a child. She was known for her intelligence and learning; she studied much and asked her tutors many questions. Around the year AD 305, when she was about 18 years old, she was arrested, and tortured, but her faith in God was strong and helped to convert people to Christianity. She engaged in dialogue and dispute with pagan intellectuals and refuted them, causing some of them to convert to Christianity. The Roman Emperor Maxentius offered her a proposal of marriage, which she refused, saying that she was a bride of Christ. The emperor, enraged, ordered her to be killed by being broken on a wheel. The wheel shattered when Katharine touched it, whereupon she was beheaded. Some scholars have disputed her existence. However, regardless of this question, (which cannot be proved), she has been an important focus for Christian devotion for nearly seventeen hundred years.

In the Roman Empire, until Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in AD 313, you could be condemned to death for simply being a Christian. It was expected that everyone would worship the Emperor as a living god, by offering prayer and worship, and burning incense before an image of him. Christians cannot do this, as we worship God alone. Faced with a choice, St Katharine was prepared to die, rather than worship a false god. Her fortitude inspires us to take our faith seriously and to prefer nothing to Christ.

It is common in Britain for public buildings to display a picture of the reigning monarch. For most of our lives this was the late Queen Elizabeth II, and now it is King Charles III. If, however, you were required by law under pain of death to worship the King as a god and burn a pinch of incense before his image, we would all, rightly, refuse. We are Christians and we worship God alone. Such was the reality in the world inhabited by Katharine, and countless other Christian martyrs. They were faced with a difficult choice: either to conform to the will of the state, or to die. They chose to bear witness to their faith. Followers of Christ would pray for the emperor, however, they could not pray to him. 

It is hardly surprising that the calm and dignified manner of many early Christians won admiration from the world around them. The Roman Empire valued philosophical detachment and public service, and Christians excelled at both of these things. However, it was the manner that Christians faced death, at the hands of the state, which inspired people.

In Medieval Europe, St Katharine was extremely popular, and devotion to her grew after the Crusades. She was made patron saint of students, teachers, librarians, and lawyers. St Katharine was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, along with St Agathius, St Barbara, St Blaise, St Christopher, St Cyriacus, St Denis, St Elmo, St Eustace, St George, St Giles, St Margaret of Antioch, St Pantaleon, and St Vitus. Some of these names are very familiar, and their popularity as Christian names, is testament to their continued importance as the basis of our culture. St Catharine bore witness to her faith in Jesus Christ. Her relationship with Him was the most important thing in her life. She is a model of faithful prayer and fortitude: trusting in God to bring good out of any situation.

The teaching of the Gospel passage set for today is clear. We are called to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, regardless of the cost. Katharine could have saved her life by submitting and worshipping the Emperor, but she chose not to. Instead she proclaimed that Jesus is Lord, and not Caesar in Rome. And for this she paid with her life.

It is a fundamental truth of the Christian Religion that Love, Obedience, and Suffering go hand in hand — they are costly. Following Christ means embracing the suffering which comes from love and obedience, and bearing witness to the truth that God gave His life for us all, and may ask the same of us. The God whom we worship did not just die upon a Cross, but rather was raised to New Life. St Katharine knew Our Lord and trusted His promises. She now shares His Risen Life, and she calls us to follow Christ, to trust Him, and to love him. 

May we then, today and every day, be inspired by the example and witness of St Katharine, and may we follow her example and sing the praises of Our Divine Lord, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Duw Dad, Duw y Mab, a Duw yr Ysbryd Glân. To whom be ascribed all might, majesty, glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.